Have you ever wondered why the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree? I know I have. As a parent, like you, I too want to prove this proverb wrong. As a parent I’d love the fruits of my tree to flourish brighter, better and to travel further than my own. I’d love to see every generation live better than the last. It’s what my polish grandparents provided my parents and it’s what they in turn provided us. You’re a parent, you too want the best for your kids, for them to flourish and to live a life that you never even thought was possible!
So today, let’s dive in on three big questions. Questions concerning the health of our lil’ superheroes. Although my playbook on parenting is continually being rewritten since it’s journey began, there’s a couple things I’ve learnt as a parent and a Chiropractor over the last few years. Our questions for today are to illuminate chiropractic’s place in your child’s health.
- Why would my son/daughter need Chiropractic?
- Why could children benefit from Chiropractic?
- What to expect from Children’s Chiropractic?
“Why would my daughter need Chiropractic?”
This is truly a great question. Yes, we to would love to think that our little angels were born perfect. Then we’d love to think that they would continue to grow & develop perfectly too. However, even mother nature at her very best may need a helping hand. Our goal as a chiropractor is to be that helping hand when needed. To help nurture their lil’ bodies so they can develop and grow as close to ideal as possible. Just like for us adults- perfection is a beautiful goal but it’s hard to attain and harder to stay there.
Have a think about childbirth. Birthing could very well be bub’s first ever trauma. Their beautiful lil’ malleable bodies were jammed into a super small space for the better part of 9 months. If they were lucky to be delivered naturally, great (yet even this can have complications). The rate of medical intervention for childbirth is ever increasing. In 2016, 34% of all Australian births were performed by Caesarian. There’s also an increase in the use of forceps & vacccum assisted delivery in vaginal births.
The road through childhood can then come with its own legitimate trauma too. From learning to crawl, walk and run- falling is very much a part of life. Between the ages of 0 and 4, falls are the number one cause of all hospital visits and it’s been said that by the time a child hits 7 yrs of age they’ve experienced 4000 falls. This was something I never understood till I became a parent, now looking back I’d suggest that number is an underestimation if anything.
Although we love to think parenting is almost fool proof, that kids are pretty indestructible, we also know that they are highly sensitive and incredibly delicate. Their bodies and nervous systems are on overdrive to learn how to adapt and thrive. If there’s any miscommunication between their body & brain problems can arise. With 90% of their total brain development happening before the age of 5 we love to check and make sure that development is optimal not just average. Things like colic, asthma, difficulty breast feeding, struggling to latch, only feeding from one side, being unable to lie comfortably in various positions, grasping only with one hand are all potential signs of a bub that could benefit from chiropractic. The child that just can’t switch off at night? She too could potentially benefit by reducing any body irritation which may be forcing her lil’ nervous system into overdrive.
Between the ages of 0 and 4, falls are the number one cause of all hospital visits.
As children grow, we want to cultivate, to shape them into their best possible future. Whether it’s growth spurts, adapting to sports or especially the school chairs. Chiropractic is a great, healthy habit to help children transition through their early formative years of life. As a parent, it’s easy to see the effects of many common habits like school chairs, technology & the strain that that is causing on kids bodies and minds. Similarly, the one sided scooter riding or soccer can come with its trauma too. As a Chiropractor, we can’t change their environment however, Chiropractic is the most powerful, non invasive, non surgical health profession out there that helps to modulate the stress that’s happening to their bodies so they can continue to perform & live their best.
In short- why would my daughter benefit from Chiropractic? Because the road to progress is continually under construction. By checking and adjusting her spine we have a great, powerful way of positively impacting her nervous system. Bringing her as close to perfect as possible so she can handle the ever-present firehose of new information that is flooding her each and every day. The list of potential reasons your daughter may benefit from chiropractic is endless. It may be birthing trauma, concentration issues at school or you are just looking to enhance her development through life. Either way we are here to help. We know the road of life will come with it’s share of bumps, lets make it the best ride possible.
Why could children benefit from Chiropractic?
Children are born with twice as many brain connections (neurons) as mum and dad and they continue to multiply. Their bodies are one of their biggest sensory feedback satellites for their brain’s development and between the ages of 2-4 their number of their neurons multiply an additional 15 x!! Talk about being primed to learn & adapt. Chiropractic can provide numerous benefits for kids. Chiropractic is an incredibly powerful tool which focusses on the body to provide an ideal stimulus into their lil’ nervous systems. One thing we are certain of is that “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” This is absolutely the case for our children.
Kids have enough to learn & figure out. Their bodies and brains are constantly under a stream of new information and it can be tough to handle. The last thing kids need is for their bodies to be out of sync, in pain, discomfort or even just confused. It’s hard to know when something isn’t quite right especially as they don’t have a language for it. Chiropractic assists by normalising or modulating the stress and strain relationship on their bodies so that their bodies and brains can develop in an ideal way. In essence, we help to minimise any imbalances right from the starting gate because if we miss by an inch at the start we potentially miss by a mile further down the road.
Sometimes kids never seem to have an off switch. For newborns, the bub that sleeps through is a bragging point while for school age ADHD is rampant. Yet kids, like adults are supposed to have an off switch…. None of us can run full throttle 24/7 and our kids are no different. If they aren’t switching off at night there’s a great chance their bodies are under stress. Something is forcing them to stay hyper-vigilant and on warp speed. If we reduce the stress on their bodies then they get to rest and reboot too. This benefit has two big components. First is the more obvious physical release of pressure. Yet the second, chemical balancing out of relaxing & stress hormones is a huge positive benefit of a chiropractic adjustment.
So – the short answer, why could children benefit from Chiropractic? To give them the best possible chance of adapting to the stressors and strains of life while maximising their potential for growth and development by fine tuning the relationship between their body and brain.
What to expect from Children’s Chiropractic.
Women are not small men, neither are children just small adults. As such the differences between chiropractic for kids and adults can be akin to comparing apples to oranges. Both are great but they are worlds apart. We all know children’s nervous systems are incredibility active and we can use this to our advantage.
Kids learn at such an incredible rate. Much of this is thanks to their increased nervous system awareness or plasticity (the ability to change). As a result, their nervous system may only need 1/10th of what an adults body requires to elicit a positive response. That’s 1/10th of the force or time of care required to see a change.
As such, many children’s chiropractic techniques are quite light in the force or touch department. Similar to adults, touch is often done by hand. However, the pressure used is similar to “eyeball pressure.” Here at Transitions Chiropractic, we find this the best way to modulate & control the level of impulse required. Up until the age of 7, in our experience there is almost no need to “look for the pop” or “crack” from a kids chiropractic adjustment.
Two additional benefits with chiropractic and kids is that their bones are much smaller, more malleable and that they haven’t had the years of chronic stress or strain that mum and dad might have had. The lack of scar tissue, poor habits and more agile software further ramps up children’s ability to respond really well to chiropractic care- even at the lightest touch.
Their nervous system may only need 1/10th of what an adults body requires to elicit a positive response. That’s 1/10th of the force or time of care required to see a change.
With kids and chiropractic yes, it can be for a symptom, physical complaint or purely looking to enhance their way of being. Either way- more often than not, when a trained chiropractor is checking a child, they’ll be able to highlight some movement discrepancies or imbalances that they’ll address over the course of treatment. As we’ve touched on- Kids are primed to adapt- they are built to thrive. Often with kids a chiropractic, they can fast forward the initial course of care from 4 weeks to less than 4 visits. Look for a change, they’ll respond that is one thing we are positive on.
Now, more than ever what can we control? In uncertain economic times, rising house prices, global health pandemics there must be something we can do. We can control our health and the health of our family from the inside out. We can control the health of our body, brain & mind. Now that is power, especially when applied to a whole family. That’s a tri- unity which can master & adapt at it’s very best. A powerful team that together can survive any changes in the external environment and allow our children to live the best lives possible. If you have any questions, please reach out to us here @ Transitions Chiropractic. We love having kids in our office and if you’re unsure- spinal checks are always complimentary- make an appointment today.
In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.”